The Internet in Asia

Singapore's Inteligent Nation 2015 plan

Intelligent Nation 2015 is the Singapore government's 10 year infocomm development master plan aimed at transforming Singapore into a totally wireless, intelligent, economically enriching and competitive nation for Singaporeans from all walks of life. Broadband penetration is expected to increase to 90 % by then to help meet these objectives.  It also aims to  create 80,000 new jobs and double the infocomm industry's contribution to Gross Domestic Product to $26 billion, tripling the country's export  revenue to SGD 60 billion.

Also part of the transformation will be building the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure for a high-speed wired network of up to 1 Gigabit per second islandwide.
33 local and international companies have indicated their interest in the contract to be awarded next year and which will be rolled out by 2012.

Malaysian police nab net-gambling ring

Gambling may be banned in Muslim-Malaysia, but this small obstacle has never stopped punters and bookies from doing so. Analyst estimate that more than RM 5 billion exchange hands through illegal betting on the English Premier League and other games annually. The police have stepped up operations during this World Cup season and as a result nabbed 18 illegal bookies operating an on-line gambling operation out of a pig sty. Police suspect that they could have raked in over RM 30 million during the World Cup season so far.

Blogger investigated under Sedition Act in Singapore

Singaporean blogger Char was brought in for questioning after under the Sedition Act publishing pictures on his blog that were thought to depict Jesus Christ in an offensive manner after finding the cartoons on-line in January. The cartoon depicted Jesus as a zombie biting a boy's head in January.  One month after first posting this cartoon on-line, he received complaints from readers but instead of removing it, he chose to irk the reader further by posting other similar cartoons.

He was called in for questioning in March after police received complaints. After being brought in for questioning, Char announced it via email to around 300 Singaporeans himself, and then removed the cartoon from his blog. When contacted by the press, he said that he made an unwise decision, and he did not think that anyone would lodge a police complaint. He also  requested to keep his identity secret as he is afraid of losing his job that he would like to keep before he enters a local university in August.

On a slightly different note, Singaporean Station Inspector Mohamed Zulnizan Mohamed Arsis  received an award for tracking down the blogger who posted racist remarks against Malays in October last year. The blogger was sentenced to a two-year probation sentence, to go for counselling, to get a psychological evaluation and perform 180 hours of community service at a Malay voluntary welfare organisation under a volunteer Malay probation officer.

Cambodia bans 3G services to stop porn

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged the country's Ministry of Communication to ban the use of 'certain mobile phones', allegedly after his wife and some of her friends received pornographic material over their mobile phones. Two reasons were cited - firstly, to preserve the morality of Cambodians and secondly because its too technologically advanced for them.  It is unknown whether this suggestion will turn to law, but it is highly likely as his legislation are often unchallenged.  Currently, out of Cambodia's population of 13 million, it is estimated that around 10% have mobile access. CamGSM, one of the larger mobile phone operators in Cambodia is already operating a 3G network.

Industry observers have question if it was necessary to implement such drastic measure, or whether the same effect could have been achieved by allowing mobile users to practice individual discretion or to use networking technology to filter pornographic material on their networks.  Other countries have also tried to regulate material made available through this and other new media services. For example. Singapore that's known for its strict censorship laws has implemented "a light-touch regulatory framework" through its Class License scheme that specifies minimum standards for content delivered over the Internet and other new media services such as 3G. 

Of spoofs and politics

An audio clip written and produced by Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi surrounding the James Gomez saga has resulted in a discussion on whether such parody's detract from main election issues. The clip had the bak chor mee (minced meat noodle) hawker repeatedly demand an explanation from a customer who had given a wrong order - and was proved to have done so by footage from a closed-circuit television camera. The incident mirrors real life where James Gomez (a Workers Party candidate) was questioned by the ruling PAP as to whether he had indeed submitted his minority candidacy papers after he suggested that the Elections Commission had lost them.

Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi said that the production " was meant to entertain", and they did not mean to set any political agenda.  They also added that such parodies could increase Singaporeans interest in politics, instead of consigning them to being politically apathetic.  They did however express concern over the popularity of their sketch (that was heard by over 100,000 people) as it  could raise their fans expectations of future creations, and also brought what he called "unnecessary attention."

Singapore: Bloggers voice opinion that government should engage with and not regulate new media

Singaporean bloggers and journalists have suggested that the government should engage with new media , instead of regulating it- as the blogosphere can regulate itself - for example, websites that feature wild, baseless accusations or irresponsible content will soon lose their readership and credibility, as readers move to other websites and that unfair criticisms will likely draw counter-arguments, sparing the original writer the need to respond to every comment.  However, they also acknowledged the importance of bloggers being mindful of existing laws, and not breaking them. Popular bloggers Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi provided an example - the use of their slogan "prison got no broadband " as an effort to educate bloggers on the importance of following existing rules.

Mr Peter Lim, 67, a former editor-in-chief of The Straits Times,  suggested that the government engage with new media (for example through maintaining their own blogs and participating in on-line-forums) with the aim of eventually leaving the Internet to self-regulate.

Minister for Communication, Information and the Arts, Lee Boon Yang countered the argument by stating that irresponsible comments on race or faith-related issues in multi-racial Singapore could be horrendous and so the matter should be approached with delicacy and sensitivity and be given the importance that it calls for.  On the bright side, he also mentioned the possibility of blogs and other on-line forums being given more leeway during the next Singapore General Elections (politically oriented postings and pod-casts were banned during the most recent one).

Dr M turns to online alternative news site to air his views

Dr Mahatir Mohamad, ex-PM of Malaysia has started granting interviews to  Malaysiakini to air his critical comments of the current Malaysian administration of some of the bigger bilateral issues facing Malaysia and Singapore. The independent site, whose reporters were often banned from government functions and was faced with threats of shutdown when he was in power. At the outset, he said that I never liked Malaysiakini before as it was very critical of him. However, now that the mainstream Malaysian press (that is widely known to be government controlled) is no longer giving him much coverage, it seems that he may have changed his mind.  Read the interview here.

Southeast Asia vulnerable to terror attacks

According to security experts, Southeast Asia is likely to be attacked on the cyber-front, as soon as terrorists master the necessary technology to do so. Until now, terrorists have mainly been using the Internet to communicate with each other, spread propaganda and to raise funds on-line.  For example, it is estimated that there are over 1,000 jihadist websites in Southeast Asia.  The conference five-day conference held in Kuala Lumpur brought together security officials and analysts from Malaysia, the United States, Japan, Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand with the aim of discussing how governments can prevent terrorists from exploiting information technology.

Thailand: Internet radio station goes to the dogs.

Anupan Boonchuen, a Thai entrepreneur, and director of a dog grooming school  launched dogradiothailand.com last week as he believes that music will make dogs feel happier. For instance,  he often plays music when his students are learning to groom dogs as they are more likely to allow his students to handle them.  Boonchuen said that it has always been his dream to start a  radio station specifically for dogs, but it was always to expensive -- until he came across the more cost effective alternative of Internet radio.

The radio station will mainly play Thai pop music but will also air programs where DJs will "talk to dogs" and his canine target audience are encouraged to respond. When slow songs are played, he will encourage DJs to howl. Why? Because dogs howl when they are sad too!

Cyber relationships

Cyber relationships is a growing phenomenon - with a proliferation of on-line services available to facilitate it catering to a wide range of needs and groups of people. A wide variety of people subscribe to these services - in India for example, parents turn to services such as Shaadi.com to find potential marital partners for their children (traditionally such matrimonial advertisements were limited to certain sections of the daily newspapers). Friendster on the other hand attracts the youth who choose to display their on-line profiles in the hope of meeting new people, building up their networks, staying in touch with friends and to make new friends.

However, as outlined in this article, most of these relationships don't end well, mainly due to the 'inaccuracy' of on-line self-portrayals by either party. Others argue that it is possible to develop healthy on-line relationships that can result in equally happy offline relationships.  However people choose to view the situation, cyber relationships are definitely here to stay and are likely to increase in popularity as Internet adoption increases.